The Use of the Adjective as a Substantive in the De Rerum Natura of Lucretius

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HUMANISTIC SERIES

VOLUME III

PART III. THE USE OF ADJECTIVE AS
SUBSTANTIVE IN LUCRETIUS.

-y^^y^

THE MACMILLAN ,COMPANY

MBW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
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MACMILLAN & CO., Limited

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THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.

TORONTO

THE USE OP THE ADJECTIVE

AS A SUBSTANTIVE IN THE

DE RERUM NATURA

OF LUCRETIUS

BY

FREDERICK T, SWAN

(Jlew ©orft
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.

I9IO

All rights reserved

BALTJMORB, MD., U. 8. A.

I

' i

o»

\/«

5 ^7

THE USB OF THE ADJECTIVE AS A SUBSTAN-
TIVE IN THE DE EERUM NATURA OF
<i T. LUCRETIUS CARUS.*

^ The transfer of a word ordinarily used as an adjective to

r^ the function of a substantive, involves one of the most com-
Q mon shifts of category that occur in language, and is abun-
dantly illustrated by all the Indo-European languages. So
among the Romans, as new substantive concepts arose new
expressions developed for them. Of the various new forms
that thus arose the substantivized adjective is one of the
most important and most interesting, ,whether viewed from
the point of view of general linguistics or treated as a factor
in the historical development of the Latin language.

The use of the Latin adjective as a substantive has been
made the subject of a great deal of study. Those who de-
voted attention to the subject in the earlier part of the past
century approached it with minds seriously prejudiced in
two respects. First, as they were interested in it mainly for
the light it threw on " good usage ^^ and " bad usage," they
looked at the phenomenon mainly from the point of view of
the stylist. In the second place they were still largely
swayed by the " logical " method of language study, which
had sharply and clearly defined the respective provinces of
the adjective and the substantive, and they accordingly
viewed with disapproval any ^^ intrusion" of the former
upon the field of the latter. It was an offense against the
principles of grammar as well as a violation of good style.

* Additions by the editor are enclosed in single quotation
marks reversed, thus: , *

13

O ^^ o

r^'^'\

180 University of Michigan Studies

Even a man of the type of Christian Karl Eeisig makes the
following remarkable statement : ^ " Es hat die Spraehe eine
Menge Bedensarten, wo das neutnim adjectivi fiir ein sub-
stantivum gesetzt ist, erst almahlich gebildet. Zuerst war
dies mehr dichterisch; seit dem ersten Jahrhnndert der
Kaiser warde es in der Prose immer allgemeiner; z. B. in
levi habendum bei Tac. Ann. 3,54, primas dominandi spes
in arduo {esse) Ann. 4,7. Auch friiher schon hat Sallust,
der iiberhaupt manches Dichterische anwendet, in incerto
Cat. 41,1.^'

In 1837 C. G. Dietrich published a brief paper in the
Zeitschrift f. Alterthxmiswissenschaft, Nr. 44, pp. 367ff.,
and treated the same subject in greater detail in the Easter
program of the gymnasium at Freiburg in 1842. This
paper was reprinted in N'eue Jahrb. f . Phil. u. Paed. suppl.
vol. 8, pp. 487-503 (= Archiv. f. Phil. u. Paed.). While
Dietrich still viewed the question with the eyes of a stylist
and bases his conclusions almost exclusively on the usage of
Cicero (he cites scarcely more than half a dozen passages
from Sallust, N'epos and Livy), yet to him is due the credit
of having pointed out the frequency of this usage, which
others had regarded as confined to a comparatively small
number of words and to a few special phrases. He took a
decided stand : '' omnia fere (sc. adiediva) pro substantivis
usurpari posse existimarem, si quidem ex ipsa verhorum
compositione satis intelligitur adjectiva habere vim stib-
stantivorumf During the succeeding thirty years Nagels-
bach's Stilistik (Ist ed. 1846, 3d 1858, 4th 1861), Holtze,
Syntaxis priscorum scriptorum Latinorum usque ad Teren-
tium, 1861, 1862 and Draeger^s Historische Syntax der lat.

^Vorlesungen fiber lat. Sprachwissenschaft (first published
in 1839 by his pupil Fr. Haase and re-edited in the 80's by
Heerdegen, Schmalz and Landgraf ) , vol. 3, pp. 159ff .

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 181

Spr. vol. 1, 1872 (2d ed. 1878) added considerable new ma-
terial from other writers than Cicero and introduced a more
elaborate classification of the material.

In 1874 appeared two works which made substantial con-
tributions to the subject: Haase^ Vorlesungen iiber lat.
Sprachwissenschaft, vol. 1, ed. by Eckstein and Ott, Die
Substantivierung des lat. Adjectivum durch Ellipse, Pro-
gram, Eottweil. The former dealt a heavy (and final)
blow to those who had made extravagant use of the ellipsis
as an explanation of origin of substantivized adjectives,
while Ott pointed out a large group of instances, in the case
of which one is justified in assuming that an ellipsis has
been involved in the development of the usage. Ten years
later Panhoff,^ Barth/ and Wueseke ' enriched the available
material by somewhat exhaustive papers on the usage of
Tacitus, Terence and Plautus, and in 1890 Hirt added the
material supplied by Quintilian.* The special line of work
opened up by Ott in the above-mentioned program was fol-
lowed out by Wolfflin, Die Ellipse von navis'^ and Eolfe,
Die Ellipse von ars * and The Formation of Latin Substan-
tives from Geographical Adjectives by Ellipsis ^ in the thor-
ough and exhaustive maimer characteristic of the school of
Wolfflin.^

^Panhoff, De neutrius generis adiectivorum substantive usu
apud Taciturn, Diss. Halle, 1883.

^Barth, Die Bleganz des Terentius im Gebrauch des Adjecti-
vums, in Jahr. Class. Phil., vol. 129 (1884), pp. 177-182.

•Wueseke, De Plauti et Terentii usu, adjectiva et participia
substantive ponendi, Diss. Marburg, 1884.

* Hirt, Ueber die Substantivierung des Adjectivums bei Quin-
tilian. Program des Sophiengymnasiums, Berlin, 1890.

"Archiv. Lat. Lex. vol. 9 (1896), pp. 285-291.

•Archiv. Lat. Lex. vol. 10 (1898), pp. 229-246.

^ Trans. Amer. Phil. Assoc, vol. 30 (1899), pp. 5-23.

182 Univeesity of Michigan Studies

The aim of the present paper is to throw additional light
upon the subject by the examination of the usage of Lu-
cretius.

Since the publication of Ott's paper it has been customary
to distinguish rather sharply between two processes by
which substantives are developed from adjectives. Ott
(p. 1) defines them as follows: "Die Substanvierung des
lateinischen Adjectivs voUzieht zich auf einem doppelten
Wege: entweder durch unbewusste Subsumption
eines persohlichen oder sachlichen (abstracten) Begriffes
unter einem obersten Allgemeinbegriff oder durch fiihlbare
Ellipse eines ebenfalls generellen, aber enger begrenzten
Begriffes von weit uberwiegend concreter Natur/^ e. g. first
type : consvlaris ^ an exconsul/ honi ^ the good/ docta ^ a
lady of culture/ honestum ^integrity.' .... "Der Her-
gang bei der erster Art Substantivierung ist dem nach ein
innerer, in den Elementen des Wortes selbst gelegener.
Diese Elementen sind (1) die im Stamm ruhende Bedeu-
tung des Wortes, (2) bei abgeleiteten Adjectiven zugleich
die zum Ausdruck bestimmter Verhaltnisse dienenden Suf-
fixe, (3) die Geschlechtsbezeichnung .... Was nun die
zweite Art der Substantivierung betrifft, so ist hier der
Hergang ausserlich, nicht in Elementen des Adjectivum
selbst begriindet, er besteht, namlich in dem Wegfall eines
allgemeinen Substantivbegriffes, der sich zum Adjectivbe-
griff verhalt wie das Genus zur Species.^'

,This division of substantivized adjectives into two
classes, while it is in some respects convenient for the pur-
poses of systematic classification and description, has been
rather too sharply drawn heretofore, and has tended to ob-
scure at least partially the real nature of the processes in-
volved in the change. In the first place we should never
lose sight of the fact, that the grammatical function of a
word is only one of the many elements or groups of ele-

/

Use op the Adjective as a Substantive 183

ments of thought and feeling that constitute the complex
meaning it bears in any given sentence in which it may
occur. For example, in handling the problem now before
us, we should distiixguish carefully between the processes
involved in the shift of grammatical category (from adjec-
tive to substantive) on the one hand and those involved in
a change of what is ordinarily called the " meaning '^ ^ of a
word on the other. While the two are concomitant in proba-
bly all cases, yet the one is not an indispensable prerequisite
to the existence of the other. The word molaris from con-
tinued use in connection with dens " absorbed ^^ a part of
its meaning, that is, certain elements in the meaning of
dens became closely associated with the phonetic symbol
molaris, a semantic change of very common occurrence and
variously called VerdicMung, contagion, fusion or satura-
tion,* itself a process involving several successive stages.
We should be much in error, however, if we should suppose
that it was through association with the word dens alone
that molaris came to be associated with the objects with
which English molar is associated when used of the teeth.
In that case we should be overlooking the fundamental truth -
that in each and every instance the meaning of a word has
its origin in the sentence as a whole, or even in the wider
context, and that not simply one element of the sentence
(e.g. in this case the word dens) is responsible for its mean-
ing. Take for example Juvenal, Sat. 13,213.

Perpetua anxietas nee mensae tempore cessat
Faucibus ut morbo siccis interque molares
Difficili crescente clbo.

^The shift of grammatical category is of course in this in-
stance fundamentally a change in meaning.

'See Wundt, Volkerpsychologle, 1,2, chap. 8,§5a (=pp.
537ff. 1st ed.); Br^al, Essai de semantique, p. 221 (^pp.
200fF. Engl, translation) ; Darmesteter, La vie des mots, p.
124, 2d ed.

184 University of Michigan Studies

It is by the general meaning of the sentence (note the words
mensae, faucibus, crescente cibo) that the meaning of mo-
lares is determined. This is made clear by a comparison
of Pliny, Nat Hist. 36A74f.

Calcem e vario lapide Cato censorius inprobat; ex albo melior.
.... Utilior eadem effosso lapide quam ex ripis fluminum
collecto, utilior e molari, quia est quaedam pinguior natura
eius; 36,137 Molarem quidam pyriten vocant, quoniam pluri-
mum sit ignis illi . . . .; Celsus, 5,28 lapide molari contrito;
Virgil, Aen. 8,249f. (description of the slaying of Cacus by
Hercules)

Desuper Alcides telis premit (sc. Cacum) omniaque

arma
Advocat et ramis vastisque molaribus instat,

'huge rocks'; cf. Ovid, Met. 3,59f. (description of the

slaying of the dragon by Cadmus)

Dixit, dextraque molarem
Sustulit et magnum magno conamine misit;

and Apuleius, Met. 7,17, where the meaning of molares cir-
cuitus is made clear by the words of chap. 15 mulier molae
machinariae subiugum me dedit and mercenariis discursi-
biLS meis.

In these six passages molaris is used in at least five dis-
tinctly different senses. Four different meanings of the
word are known as applied to stones; i. e. ^mill stone,' any
^ large stone/ ^ flint/ ^ marcasite/ Clearly association with
the word lapis alone would not explain these various mean-
ings. Once the word has come to be closely associated with
the groups of qualities possessed by the various objects sym-
bolized by it in the above sentences, it may be used either
as an adjective or substantive, just as the Romans said
either homines consvlares ' men of consular rank/ ^ excon-
suls ^ or considares. The shift from the former meaning to
the latter (i. e. the shift of grammatical category) involves
a different problem from that discussed above and appears

• • • •

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 185

to be essentially the same in both the classes of words de-
scribed by Ott. In any case it can not be said that the sub-
stantivizing is the result of the omission of the substantive,
any more than that the omission of the substantive is due to
the substantivizing of the adjective.

In the statement of Ott as to the manner in which consvr
laris, boni, docta, and honestum take on substantive mean-
ing he leaves out of account in the same manner the part
played by the context in the problem. The " elements of
the word itself '^ are not more important than the other ele-
ments of the unit of thought (sentence) of which it is a
part. The conditions under which a word of this class
appears with a specific " meaning ^^ are only slightly dif-
ferent from those under which molaris and words of its
class take on theirs. In the latter class some specific word
as denSj lapis plays a large part^ in the former class this is
not so likely to be true. The shift from adjective to sub-
stantive is not conditioned by this change of meaning, but
is a concomitant process, which may or may not take place.

Professor Eolf e appears to have recognized the real error
of Ott^s method, for he says in Trans. Amer. Phil. Assoc,
vol. 30, p. 6, " To ellipsis clearness is sometimes apparently

sacrificed With argentaria, for example, we may

think of the mine (fodina), of the workshop {officina or
tdberna)y of the bank (mensa), or of the banking business
(ars) . The sacrifice of clearness is, however, only apparent,
since the particular substantive which is to be supplied in
each case is plainly indicated by the situation in which the
word is used." This apparent ambiguity, or to speak more
accurately, this variety of meaning exists, of course only in
the mind of the grammarian or lexicographer who is study-
ing the word. In the mind of the Eoman who was employ-
ing the word for the purpose of expressing his ideas, nor-
mally there was in each specific instance but one meaning;

186 Univbrsity op Michigan Studies

and it is only with the mental processes involved in that one
meaning that the student of Latin syntax and semantics
has to do/

In the present paper in dealing with the adjective con-
verted into a substantive as found in the De rerum natura
of Lucretius the subject is treated for the sake of conven-
ience under the two heads mentioned above. For the first
mentioned class, that is, " without ellipsis," I follow the
classification of Nagelsbach amplifying it where necessary.
In the second division I have made such a classification as
seemed appropriate.

CLASS A.

Adjectives by inflection in gender and number, in con-
nection with the context in which they stand, denote, in the
masculine, males or animate beings (especially persons)
generally; in the feminine, females; in the neuter, things.
Such adjectives acquired the force of substantives (e. g.
amicus, immicus, bonum, docta) and did not derive their
meaning chiefly from an omitted substantive, the morpho-
logical elements and the situation furnishing the conditions
necessary to make evident the specific meaning and the sub-
stantive character. When such a usage comes to be the pre-
vailing or exclusive one, the adjective becomes a substan-
tive.*

There are various stages in this transition from one usage
to the other, from that in which the substantive use is sug-
gested by a real substantive or some other word standing in
close proximity to the adjective, while, in the common
usage, the adjective retains its full adjectival force, to that
in which the adjective has become a real substantive and is
only sporadically or never used with its adjectival force.

^ See Rolfe, Trans, p. 7.

•• •

•

■0m

•-: ••. : :

•! • • • •

• • • •

•Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 187

To illustrate these facts in a concrete form I will take the
adjective pyblicasrarum. In the early language these
forms were prevailingly, if not exclusively, used with sub-
stantives of the masculine, feminine and neuter genders to
designate males, females, and objects of the neuter gender
respectively as possessing the attributes signified by the ad-
jectives. Thus, while publicus, because of its connotation
of sex might be used of any public man, that is, an officer,
a magistrate or a slave, the adjective was used to such an
extent in the phrase, publicus servus, that, when a Soman
said publicus in a certain context, a friend understood what
he meant even if he failed to add servus. This usage con-
tinued, the word servus being dropped more and more fre-
quently, until finally, publicus came to mean ^ public slave/
[In Plautus, True. 557 metuit publicos, although the pas-
sage is a disputed one, we probably have publicus used with
the meaning of ^public officer^ or ^policeman.* Orelli,
Inscr. 3,6,7,3 publicus sacerdotalis, a sacris, a sacrario dim
Augusti gives publicus as meaning a lower servant of a
priestly college.]

N"ow just as publicus conveyed the proper meaning by its
masculine termination supported by the situation, so pub-
lica with a feminine ending is seen to have been used as a
substantive and to have been associated with the idea of a
public woman. Seneca, Epist. 88,37 has Sappho publica
fuerit where undoubtedly such is the correct interpretation.
Publica in addition, however, through the association with
the word via, on the subsequent ellipsis of that word, came
to express the idea embraced in the combined adjective and
substantive publica via; e. g. Gromatici Lat. p. 334,16. This
ellipsis becomes intelligible to us when we know the environ-
ment of the substantive.

Publicum when used as a substantive does not indicate so
clearly as in the other instances the idea by means of its

188 TJxiTEBSiTT OP Michigan Studies

inherent chaiaeieristics. Here the meaning generally de-
pends more npon the situation. So in some cases ierriio-
rium, agrum sure the words (or concepts) which must have
heen in the mind of the speaker, in others vectigalia, tonum
etc. for example, Cic. Agr. 2,82 in publicum Campanum
where publicum is equivalent in meaning to the state's
purse, expense. In Cic. Verr. 3,105 Apronium .... im-
perasse, ut in medio faro sibi ledi stemerentur, cotidie
solitum esse non m^do in publico sed etiam. de publico con"
vivari; we have publico in two senses, hut each equally in-
telligihle thru the relation of the word to the rest of the
sentence.

The earliest example of publicum in the sense of ' a pub-
lic place,' ' publicity,' is S. C. de Bacchan. Seve in popli-
cod neve in preivatod.

1. Neuter Singular.
The neuter singular of the adjective is used as a substan-
tive in all cases except the vocative. In the nominative and
accusative cases such substantives are used, for the most
part, in scientific writings. Nagelsbach attributes this to
the evident influence of the Greek mode of expression. So
many words of abstract meaning occur in this group, that I
feel justified in calling especial attention to them in my
classification. N'agelsbach notes among other examples
alium, inane ("vom Lucr. aufgebracht"), beatum, dHud-
dum, breve, prohabUe, illustre, suave, omne, cerium, fai-
sum, honestum, verum, magnum. From this list I would
omit inane. This is undoubtedly sometimes used in an ab-
stract sense, but I think not in Lucretius. The word will
be discussed in full, however, under ellipsis (Class B.)
NTagelsbach does not call attention to the fact that the above
words express abstract ideas, but Schmalz in Ms Lateinische
Stilistik, p. 434, says, " Durch das Xeutrum werden all-

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 189

gemein sachliche, zumeist abstrakte Verhaltnisse, z. B.
honestum, iustum, immensum, und in Hural Dinge, die
ihrem Wesen nach eine Eigenschaft besonders hervortreten
lassen, z. B. digna, vera, suinma bezeichnet/*

In studying the neuter singular as used in Lucretius I
have found an abstract meaning in certain substantive ad-
jectives (although various visual or auditory images may
have been present in some of the cases cited) . A number of
other adjectives of this gender and number imply the ellip-
sis of a substantive. These will be treated under Class B.

(1) I will first cite those examples in which an abstract
idea is paramount.

a. NTominative.

2,1043 * . . . . perpende et, si tibi vera videntur,
Dede manus, aut, si faUum est, accingere contra.

b. Accusative.

1,615 Praeterea nisi erit minimum, parvissima quaeque

Corpora constabunt ex partibus infinitis;
1,959 Namque extremum debebat habere; see also 1,752;

960; 964; 4,266.
1,409 Et verum protrahere Inde; also 4,794; 5,704.
3,525 Ancipltique refutatur convincere falsum; also

5,540; 4,764;
3,800 Quippe etenim mortale aeterno iungere || Disi-

perest;
4,477 duhium; 4,1119 malum; 5,958 tonum, (also 6,26).

c. Genitive. The genitive case, especially the
" partitive *' genitive, is often found, according to the gram-
marians. Nagelsbach cites Cic. Verr. 4,12 nihil neque pri-
vati neque pvhlid neque profani neqvs sacri. Other geni-
tives are found even in prose writers, e. g. Cic. De nat. deor.

^ 2,79 lex, quae est recti praeceptio 'praA)ique depuLsio,

^ The passages quoted from Lucretius in the following pages
conform to the text and numbering of Munro's fourth and
revised edition, 1896.

190 University of Michigan Studies

In Lucretius I find the partitive genitive in 1,497 soUdi
nil; 3,294 calidi plus; 3,915 Mali hoc; 5,176 quidve mali
(also 6,29; 811) ; 6,663 Satis mali; 3,909 quid sit amari;
4,1134 amari aliquit; 4,474 Veri nil; 5,168 quidve novi;
5,172 nil acddit aegri.

The examples of other genitives than the partitive are:
3,1056 mali; 6,1178 requies m^li (Mali adopted by Brix
from Maerobius, Sat. 6,2,13) ; 2,1052 Veri simile; 3,646
mohilitate mali; 4,476 notitiam veri falsique (also 4,479).

For totius see translations of Greek expressions, p. 19i,
below.

Nagelsbach states (p. 101) that the dative case furnished
few examples of substantive-adjective usage, chiefly scien-
tific terms. Lucretius furnishes only two datives of this
sort : 3,804 .... quid dinjersiu^ esse putandumM 1 1 Quam
mortaJe quod est immortali atque perenni \ | lunctum,

d. Ablative. The ablative case furnishes com-
paratively few examples. Nagelsbach cites recto recti/us,
bono melius (Cicero), aequ/) et bono (Sallust). In the
following examples of the ablative case the substantive ex-
presses an abstract idea: 1,370 vero; 3,313 aequo; 3,953
aequo; 3,800 aetemo; 4,477 certo (cited above) ; 4,557
aequo. Perhaps we should place here 1,257 pingui (for
MSS. pinguis)y although it would seem to mean ^fat'
rather than ^ fatness.'

In this connection mention should be made of quantum,
tantum, tantundem, m/altum, common to all authors and
periods.

At this point attention should be called to those substan-
tives which have unquestionably been influenced by Greek
usage, being translations of Greek expressions. As is well
known,^ " Neuter adjectives and participles are freely em-

^ Gildersleeve, Syntax of Classical Greek, part I, p. 13, §36.

* » 4. - .

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 191

ployed as substantives in almost any relations, t6 napt^riXvBos
t6 ficXXov, TO rrapoy Dem. 18,19,2 ^ the past,* ^ the future,* ^ the
present/ ** In t6 nav, * the whole,* ' the universe,* the sub-
stantive character is shown at once by the article. This
expression finds an exact counterpart, as far as meaning is
concerned, in the omne of Lucretius in such phrases as 1,74
omne immensum pergravit. In fact, it is highly probable
that Lucretius used omne as a translation of the t6 nop of
Epicurus. In the Epicurea of Ilsener p. 211, frg. 296 (= Plu-
tarch, Adv. Coloten 13, p. 1114a) t6 nav and Tov.yrrn'TOi occur.
A comparison of the Greek text with Cic. De div. 2,103
will show the close relation existing between the Greek and
Latin terms. In the passage cited above omne is used to
convey the meaning of t6 nap Munro calls Lucretius
l,958ff. Omne quad est, etc. almost a translation of Epicu-
rus as given in Diog. 10,41. Here again t6 nav is rendered
in Latin by omne. Omne is found in the De rerum natura
at 1,521; 523; 975; 1024; 958; 967; 987; 2,305; 547;
1049; 4,1620; 5,527; 530; 6,1121. On the analogy of
oi(nne, or perhaps as an equivalent of the Greek t6 nhv^ Lu-
cretius also used totiAis in 2,90, totum in 5,321.

(2) We pass now to the use of the substantive in prepo-
sitional phrases (see Nagelsbach, pp. 102ff.). This use was
widespread in Latin literature, Cicero and Livy having used
the phrase frequently. These prepositional phrases gen-
erally denote relations of place. Sometimes they denote
relations of time, while in some instances they metaphor-
ically portray a condition or a situation as a place from
which or to which something is taken. In all the phrases
found in Lucretius the adjectives seem to have been closely
associated with some substantive (subsequently passing out
of use in the phrase), excepting in the temporal expression
and also, perhaps, in the phrase per omne.

192 IIniveesity op Michigan Studies

Analogous to such a phrase as per omne are the meta-
phorical phrases such as that in livy 4,43,3 ex trcmqvillo,
where there is in all probability no ellipsis. Only three ex-
amples are found in Lucretius exemplifying this use : 1,711
Magno opere a vero longe derrasse videntur; cf. 1,758
(a vero) ; 1,370 (a vero). This metaphorical relation is
expressed also in similar prepositional phrases in which
there is an ellipsis of a substantive, see pp. 201f.

(3) Nagelsbach (p. 107) states that adjectives of the
third declension are not used as substantives to any great
extent. Most of the examples given below fall also under
other special divisions, but for the sake of uniformity and
of adherence to Nagelsbach^s classification I give them here
also: 4,616 Hahent in se rationis plus operaeve; also in
1,365 ; 366 ; 2,200 ; 3,1184; 294; 1,521 Omne foret soKdum;
cf. references to omne just cited; 3,804 immortali atque
perenni (cited above) ; 1,527 pingui (cited above) ; 5,1089
Quanto mortolis m^gis aecumst tum potvisse (also in 3,800,
etc.) ; 1,367 minm; 3,382 aegri (also in 5,172).

Since animans, though originally a participle, is used
only as an adjective or substantive, I place it here instead of
under the division of participles.

a. Nominative (singular number) : 2,573 cor-
pus enim atque animans erit aer.

b. Genitive: 3,388 animantis; also in 2,938;
3,97; 388; 4,740; 859.

The substantive adjective is accompanied in 3,97; 388;
4,740 ; 859 by a modifying adjective or pronoun.

c. Accusative:

2,944 Praeterea quamvis animantem grandior ictus,

Quam patitur natura, repente adfligit; see also
2,669; 3,666.

d. Ablative: 2,943. In 2,669 and 943 the
substantive is modified by an adjectival word.

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 193

The comparative and superlative degrees of the adjective
used as a substantive may be thus grouped in Lucretius:

plus 1,365; 366; 2,200; 3,294; 4,616; 1184;
minus 1,367; extremum quod haberit 1,752; 1,959;

960; 964; 4,266; minimum 1,615; 752.

(4) Up to this point I have been treating of the adjec-
tive substantive without special reference to words closely
associated with it in the sentence. In the examples cited
the adjective had taken on the characteristics of the sub-
stantive, in other words it had received the rank of a sub-
stantive. N'evertheless it had not, so to speak, as yet made
use of all a substantive's "rights."^ This was the next
step in the evolution, in consequence of which the adjective
is found governing a genitive in the same way in which a
substantive does, next a pronoun is found with the substan-
tive and then even another adjective or participle.

!N"agelsbach (p. 110) states that the use of the neuter
singular with the genitive in Cicero and Caesar is very lim-
ited, but is freer in Sallust, Livy and Curtius, such sub-
stantivized neuters either expressing something concrete,
e. g. commune, 'community,' as in Cic. Verr. 2,114, or
superlative conceptions like extremumj vltimum, summum,
plurimum. The usage is almost entirely confined to adjec-
tives of the first and second declensions and to those which
like multum denote grade, measure and part relations.
Therefore most of the genitives are partitives. In Lucre-
tius there are but few examples falling under this head. I
have found only:

1,1052 Illud in his rebus longe fuge credere, Memml,
In medium summae^ quod dicunt, omnia niti.

In the superlative: 1,959 extremum nuLlivs; 4,266 extre-
mum saxi; the genitive with the comparative: 1,365 plus

* Nagelsbach, p. 109.

194 University of Michigan Studies

inarm; 1,368 plus in se corporis esse; 1,367 vacui miwus;
plus and the genitive also occur in 3,294; 5,616.

Only two instances of the adjective used as a substantive
modified by a pronoun were found : 3,285 ; quiddam unum;
4,1119 malum id. Cf. Wiiseke op, cit. pp. 8 and 31 for the
usage of Plautus and Terence.

I pass now to that use in which the substantive takes an
attributive adjective. This usage is common (Nagelsbach,
p. 112). Aside from the technical term summum honum,
I find also in Lucretius: 1,74 omne immensum; 2,1108
magnum omne; 5,321 totwm, natvoum; 5,958 commune
honum.

2. Neutee Plural.

The adjective in the neuter plural is used as a substan-
tive under three conditions: ^ (1) in a definitive sense, (2)
expressing an abstract idea, (3) in cases in which there has
been an ellipsis of a real substantive. The first two uses I
will take up here.

(1) The adjective-substantive used in a strictly definitive
sense is found, for the most part, in the nominative and
accusative cases. The forms occurring in Lucretius are:
omnia {ex omnibus) 1,61, et passim; m/ulta 1,138 etc. etc.;
cetera (passim); cuncta (12 cases); nulla 1,242; 2,680;
pau/>a 2,20.

(2) The abstract adjective substantives have been treated
under the neuter singular. The neuter plurals occurring in
De rerum natura are :

a. Nominative and Accusative: 1,640 vera;
1,700 vera ac falsa; 2,1042 vera; 4,481 veris, falsa; 2,793
Candida; 2,867 munufesta; 3,464 delira; 3,734 mala; 4,1141

^ Nftgelsbach does not make these divisions.

J

Use op the Adjective as a Substantive 195

mala; 3,957 praesentia; 4,324 splendida; 5,121 immortalia;
6,1181 mira.

b. Genitive: 3,1020 terminus malorum; cf.
5,227 tantum m^orum,

c. Ablative: 4,481 veris; 5,1114 validis et pul-
chris; 6,1085 plenis.

The last four examples and 1,172 and 661 ex omnibus
(supra cit.) form a group in which the gender is not recog-
nizable from the ending, but must be determined from the
situation (Nagelsbach, p. 116). It must be said, however,
that these are not common in the most careful writers.
Repertis 5,2 (see below) and intolerabilihusque malis
6,1158 should also be included in this group.

Some adjective substantives which have a concrete ele-
ment in their meaning are : 3,2 inlustrans commoda vitae;
cf. 3,937 commoda; 4,1074 commoda; 4,504 manifesta;
1,732 praeclara reperta; 5,2 hisque repertis^; cf. 5,13; 6,6 ;
5,320 recipitque perempta; 6,1282 Multaque horrida.

I give here two instances of the neuter plural compara-
tive used alone : 1,828 plura; 6,245 plura.

To illustrate the complete evolution of the adjective into
the substantive the following examples are given, showing
it in combination first with an adjective and then with a
pronoun: 1,376 quamvis omnia sint plena; 1,1010 infimta
omnia reddat; 3,734 mala mvlta; 3,937 omnia commoda;
3,961 aliena omnia; 4,162 omnia plena (= 6,269; 1051) ;
4,403 omnia tecta (=^ 6,575) ; 4,443 raraque nuhila por-
ta/nt; 6,134 ramosa nuhila at que aspera; 5,13 divina an-
tiqua reperta; 6,7 divina reperta; 5,94 tria talia texta;
5,949 fluenta; luhrica; 6,527 cetera omnia; 731 nuhila
omma; 1158 {supra cit.) ; 1282 {supra cit,). With a pro-
noun: 3,945 eadem omnia (= 3,947) ; 4, mala haec.

^ Conjecture of Ltambinus for MSS. maiestatis atque repertis.
14

196 XJniveesity of Michigan Studies

3. Masculine Plural.

Nagelsbach (following Dietrich, op. cit.) states that in
the masculine plural only those adjectives can be used as
substantives which designate a class of individuals charac-
terized by the quality suggested by the adjective ; e. g. Curt.
8,17,4 militares = Skr. qatriyas,

Wuseke op. dt. p. 45f. calls attention to the error of
Dietrich and Nagelsbach in supposing that when the mas-
culine and feminine adjective substantives are used in the
plural, they necessarily refer to the whole class of individ-
uals possessing the quality designated by the adjective.
Wiiseke distinguishes three uses of these adjectives: (1)
they refer to the entire class (" totum genus ") ; (2) They
refer to two or more individuals, either (a) specific, definite
individuals (certae ac definitae personae) or (b) indefinite
(dubiae atque incertae) ; e. g. (1) ilium lauddbuni honi
^die Guten,^ Plautus, Bacch. 397; (2) (a) ones nos uocant
pessumae ' the wenches,' i. e. the two Bacchides, Bacch.
1122.

It is clear that there is nothing in the adjective itself
which restricts its application to any one of the three
classes, the precise meaning being given by the context,
when it exists at all. In the passage cited by Wuseke from
Bacch. 397 there is nothing whatever to show that Plautus
had in mind the " whole class '' of good men, rather than
any good men. An author often added omnes when he re-
ferred to the entire class. It should also be noted that ad-
jectives, after coming to be associated with a class of in-
dividuals sharing the quality designated by the adjective,
may undergo a shift of meaning, inasmuch as other promi-
nent qualities characteristic of that group may also pass
into association with the given substantivized adjective.
This is true for example of optimi, ' the aristocracy,' which

Use op the Adjective as a Substantive 197

becoming associated with this distinct political party, natu-
rally connoted in specific instances other traits of the party
than those usually implied in the adjective optinvus. M|ich
depends also upon the previous experiences of the listener.
For example periti militares (cited by Nagelsbach above)
would mean a different thing to one who was already famil-
iar with the Hindu caste system from what it would suggest
to one whose only knowledge of it came from this particular
passage. The absurdity of the view that only descriptive
adjectives can be used substantively is disclosed by the ex-
istence of such definitive adjective substantives as omnes
and mvlti, which I have designedly omitted from the ex-
amples cited above, because I considered the classification
of Dietrich (cited above by Nagelsbach) too narrow.

The treatment of Nagelsbach takes account only of de-
scriptive adjectives. Various meanings are conveyed by
these adjectives and consequently are expressed also in the
substantives. Those found in Lucretius I have grouped
under three heads: (1) Those that designate nationality,
e. g. Orai, Chaldaei, Teucri, Troiani; (2) Those that desig-
nate relations to other creatures, e. g. finitimi, similes,
mares, consanguiruei, minor es; (3) Those that designate a
quality of the object: (a) referring to some physical ap-
pearance or state, e. g. squamigeri, arqiiati, lassi, sani,
aegri, animantes, mortales; (b) referring to some mental
characteristic or state: stolidi, crudeles, stvltorum, imbe-
dllorum, indignos, puri, miseri; (c) referring to some
activity: organici.

The examples of such substantives used in Lucretius
without a modifying adjective or pronoun are :

a. Nominative : 1,641 omnia enim stolidi magis
admirantur amantque. Other examples are animantes
3,749 ; 1,808 ; 821 ; 4,645 ; 1101 ; 5,69 ; 80 ; arquati 4,333 ;
caecigeni 2,741; extorres 3,50; Orai 3,100; 1,831; 2,629;

* - * * #•

** d

198 University of Michigan Studies

6,424; finitimi 4:,581; magni 1,741; mares 4,1224; miseri
5,88; mortales 5,348; 6,51; nati 3,895; puri 4,1026; or-
ganid 2,412; 5,334; similes 4,1211; 1218; sqiuimigeri
1,378 ;vigiles 6,14:08.

b. Genitive: 2,343 sqiunnigerum pecudes; also
2,1083; 3,73 consanguineum mensas; 3,1023 stidtorum;
4,1200 salientum; 5,727 Chaldaeum; 5,1023 ImhecUlorum
esse aecum misererier omnis; 6,1245 lassorum vox; Graio-
rum 1,136; Oraium veteres docti 2,600; Oraium poetae
5,405; 6,754; maiorum 4,1226; gnatorum 6,13; animanr-
tvm 1,194; 350; 1033; 1038; 2,78; 880; 921; 1063; 1071;
3,266; 720; 5,431; 855; 919.

c. Dative: 1,65 mortalibus; also 2,556; 1033;
1158; 3,1074; 1078; 5,15; 1092; 1101; 1165; 6,10; 392;
Teucris 1,469; Troianis 1,476; stoUdis 1,1068; %umams
3,837; sanis 4,1075; miseris 4,1075; 5,983; maribus
4,1198; immortalibus, beatis 5,165; marihus 5,853; aegris
6,1152; animantibus 2,256;, 914, 3,417; 4,677; 6,773; 984.

d. Accusative: 2,171 .... mortalis; also
2,625; 3,778; 983; 5,1089; 1280; Graios 1,640; merentes
2,1104; humanos 3,80; [organices] 3,132; vivos 4,38; qui-
etos 5,168; agrestis 5,1383.

e. Ablative: 2,919 mortalibus; also 5,205;
gnatis 4,1256.

Examples of definitive adjectives from Lucretius are:
Omries 2,1029; 3,582; 1043; 4,708; 1049; 5,1023; omni-
bus; 1,19; 2,836; 1,338; 3,971; 4,564; 708; 5,233; multi
4,1015; 1018; 1020; 5,1158; 6,1174; multos 2,277; multo-
rum 3,475.

The masculine (and feminine) plural, like the neuter
singular and plural of substantive adjective, are not infre-
quently modified by participles or adjectives ; these are usu-
ally numeral attributes. See Nagelsbach, pp. 121f. Aside
from such adjectives (e. g. duo, omnes, multi, ceteri, pauci.

to b b b

_ /

Use op the Adjective as a Substantive 199

plurimi) Wiiseke pp. 49f. finds in Plautus and Terence
only sontis reos Capt. 476, and inprobis vanidicis, Trin.
273, the exact interpretation of both of which passages is
doubtful. Lucretius shows a circumscribed, though some-
what wider, rahge of usage, as can be seen from the follow-
ing examples:

With adjectives: 1,151 mortal is omms; 1,172 squrnni-
geris mteniihus; 2,980 totis moHalihus; 4,1234 gnatis dul-
cibvs; 5,944 miseris mortalibus (also 5,983) ; 6,1 mortdli'
bus aegris. With pronouns: 6,1197 ndnoribu* nostris;
6,1239 suos ad aegros; 6,1283 suos consangvineos.

4. Masculine Singular,

Lucretius used the masculine singular adjective as a sub-
stantive very sparingly. Of those classes mentioned by
Nagelsbach examples may be cited as follows :

1. Where the substantive has a collective meaning:
3,933 Quid tibi tanto operest, mortalis, quod nimis aegris

Luctibus indulges? 4,1184 mortali; 3,775 immortali,

2. Where the thought is directed to a single individual
of a group, in which case one is opposed to the other or to
others :

5,1050 Cogere item pluris v/nus .... non poterat.

3. Where the substantive designates an ideally conceived
person :

3,206 Qu>ae tibi cognita res vn muitis, o bone, rebus; cf.
3,939 stuLte.
The fourth and fifth classes of Nagelsbach, namely the
substantivized adjective (4) in co-ordination with real sub-
stantives, and (5) with the indefinite pronouns, do not seem
to have been employed by Lucretius. There are, however,
three more examples which belong in this general class, but
which do not naturally fall under ^ any of the above head-
ings: 3,10 aegri, 3,971 nulli; 5,173 tali.

200 University of Michigan Studies

5. Feminine.

The feminine of the adjective is comparatively little used
as a substantive in Latin. Neither Dietrich, Draeger nor
Nagelsbach honor this gender with a separate classification.
Its infrequency is, of course, due to the fact that outside of
a few writers the bulk of Latin literature is of such a char-
acter that words expressing the qualities of women would
not naturally enter into it. If any proof of this were needed
it would be afforded by the following list of substantive ad-
jectives cited by Wiiseke from Plautus and Terence (the
singular appears to be used somewhat more frequently than
the plural) : alia (11 cases), hella, harda, bona (3 cases),
ceterae, ignava, indocia, inepta, ingenua (2), inmemori,
inproha (2), inp{r)udens, inopem, insipiens (2), insana
(2), lepida (2), lepidissuma, lauta (2) libera, liberalis,
mea (8), multae, mala (5), [misera"], nulla (2), neutram,
nota, omnes (2), optuma, orba, paucae, pauper, peregrina,
perita, pessuma (5), proba, pudica, sua scelesta (2), sicca,
[su^ida^, stulia, tuu (3), timida (2), trivenefica, turpes,
nostra (2), ulla, utraque (2), utravis, uuida.

In Lucretius 4, 1151-1174 occur twenty-three such adjec-
tive substantives: multae, pravas, turpis, nigra, immunda.
fetida, caesia, nervosa, lignea, parvula, iota (?), magna,
immanis, balba, muta, flagrans, odiosa, loquacula, [tumidd],
mammosa, simula, labeosa, turpi, (compare the very similar
passage in Horace, Serm. 1,3,43). Aside from these and
the substantives classed in group B there occur diva and
incluta (1,40-42), in which passage incluta may have ad-
jectival force.

With the exception of muta I find none of the above men-
tioned substantives used as proper names. Muta was a god-
dess, called also Lara or Tadta, whom Jupiter on account
of her talkativeness struck dumb, Cf. Ov. Fasti. 2,583.

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 201

6. Participles.

Participles are used as substantives by Lucretius, as by
other authors, and as such exhibit all the uses and appear
in all the relations of other adjectives used as substantives.

(1) Neuter {smgvlar and plural) : The neuter
singular used as a substantive occurs from the earliest litera-
ture on (see Wuseke, p. 31 ; Nagelsbach, p. 131), but I have
found no instance of its use in Lucretius. In the neuter
plural, however, there are several of the perfect participle.^

Nominative : Munita viai 3,498 ; saxorum structa 4,361 ;
bene parta patrum 6,1129 ; teda 4,549 ; 575. Dative

or ai)lative: dictis 1,28; 103; 126; 143; 267; 333; 401;
418; 2,66; 987; 3,178; 902; 4,175; 592; 837; 5,50; 54;
56 ; 99 ; 104 ; 113 ; 6,24 ; 42 ; factis 1,296 ; 3,897. Ac-

cusative: 1,136 Oraiorum obscura reperta; reperta 1,732;
aliorum antiqu4i reperta 5,13; divina reperta 6,7; dicta
2,730; 3,12; 135; 4,461; 880; 914; 5,53; ahdita 6,809;
clausa 1,354; deserta 1,164; 2,1102; culta 1,164; prompta
6,817 ; Strata 4,415 ; structa 4,361 ; tecta 2,91 ; 1110 ; 4,403 ;
430 ; 517 ; 5,984 ; 6,223 ; 261 ; 597 ; 1262 ; texta 4,743 ; 5,94 ;
6,997; 1054.

(2) Masculine Plural.

In the plural of the present active participle all cases are
freely used as substantives, even the nominative and
accusative.

(a) Nominative and accusative: medentes 1,936; reges
rerumque potentis 2,50; 3,1027; saltantis 4,980. (b)

Genitive: 1,318 dextras salutantum praeterque meantum;
amantum 4,1077; 5,962; canentum 4,585; 5,1385; caren-
turn 4,35; salientum 4,1200; venantum 4,991. (c)

Dative: nascentibv^s 1,113; 3,671; opinantibus 5,1320;
spirantibu^ 4,937; venientibus 5,1319; vigilantibus 5,1405.

^ Fluenta (5,949) is an obscure formation.

202 University of Michigan Studies

(d) Accvsative: nocentes 2,1103; merentes 2,1104:;
moventis 4,980 ; scUtantis 4,980 ; progredientis 5,1453.

The perfect passive participle in Lucretius yields two ex-
amples both in the accusative case (armatum 5,1297;
1301).

The present active participle is used more than any other

as a substantive in Latin. As stated above, however, this

use is rare in the nominative and Nagelsbach even goes so

far as to say that it is never so used in the classical writers,

there being nothing, to hinder the participle referring to

the preceding subject, and holds that Seneca was first to

use it as a substantive employing it, e. g. in De Ira 1,4,1.

Terence, Phormio 243 had already written Pericla, damna,

ecdlia peregre rediens semper secum cogitet. Wiiseke, p. 44,

cites also Amans from Plant. Pseud. 238; True. 26; 56;

intellegens Eun. 232. There are at least two examples of

the nominative in Lucretius :

4,1024 Flumen item sitiens aut fontem propter amoenum

adsidet;
4,1097 Ut bibere in somnis sitiens quom quaerit.

In Cicero the ablative is not often used but the other cases
are frequently. Other examples from Lucretius are : eunti
3,524 ; cubanti 4,952 ; opvaanti 3,959.

Lucretius affords no examples of the future participle
with substantive force, since flexura (4,312), iunctura
(4,1083), etc. are substantives belonging to the class nuiwra,
cvltura, scriptwra, etc. formed with the sufl&x -teurra,
-seiu-rd (cf. Hist. Gram. vol. 1 (Stolz), pp. 557f.).

CLASS B.

In this group the change in the meaning of the adjective
is largely due not to any morphological elements in the
word itself, but to the influence of a substantive which was
subsequently omitted. On the nature of this change see

Use op the Adjective as a Substantive 203

above pp. 182ff. In some words the transfer of the meaning
has been so completely effected that the substantive usage
alone remains, the former adjective usage having become
obsolete. Apropos the ellipsis involved in this usage, Ott
(op. cit. pp. 2f.) says: "TJm die Sache an Beispielen klar
zu machen, so steht es fiir mich fest, dass Substantive wie
aerarium, apiarium, doUwrium, farinarium, farrarmm, fri-
gidarium, {KaltTcammer) , granarium, mellarium, olearium,
palearium, plumbarium, pomarium (Obstkammer), u. a.
die Ellipse von horreum zu Grunde liegt, wenn ich auch
nicht im Stande bin, ihre einstige Verbindung mit diesein
Genusnamen nachzuweisen." ^Apropos of this statement
three remarks may be made. First we should hesitate to
trust our " feeling ^^ (implied in "es steht fiir mich fest'^)
in dealing with any language except our own vernacular.
Secondly the assumption of horreum may be too arbitrary.
With aerarium for example, aedificvum or something simi-
lar is more natural. Thirdly we must not overlook the fact
that the suffix -arium was a productive suffix widely used to
make substantives of this general character, even when a
corresponding adjective ending in -arius did not exist.'

When is an adjective to be regarded as a true substantive ?
On this point Paul {op, cit. p. 298) says, " Sobald nun die
Unterstutzung durch die Situation fiir das Verstandniss
entbehrlich ist, so ist auch das Wort nicht mehr als ein
Adjectiv zu betrachten, sondern als ein wirkliches Substan-
tivum, und es kann dann von einer Ellipse in keinem Sinne
mehr die Eede sein." To this Professor Rolfe ^ adds verv
aptly, that even after an adjective has become a genuine
substantive the original combination of adjective plus sub-
stantive may nevertheless be used on stylistic or euphonic
grounds just as in English we speak now of ' the Atlantic,^

* Trans. Amer. Phil. Assoc, vol. 31, p. 7.

204 University of Michigan Studies

now of Hhe Atlantic Ocean/ Other instances which I
might mention are ^ to explore the Yellowstone ^ or ^ to ex-
plore the Yellowstone Park/ * to ride on the Mississippi ^ or
^ to ride on the Mississippi Eiver/ yet in such cases we must
also raise the question as to whether in the fuller expres-
sions ^Atlantic Ocean/ ^Yellowstone Park^ and the like
a consciousness of the attributive character of the Atlantic,
Yellowstone etc. is present or whether the words have so
far coalesced as to form a single concept and thus become
compound proper nouns, as for example * Lake Michigan/
To the Latinist the determination of such a question be-
comes, of course extremely difficult in most cases, if not
impossible. Thus in Lactantius, Inst. 5,1,^4 is found ex
artis oratoriae professione although the word oratoria is
used as a substantive by Quintil. 2,14,1 and even by Lac-
tantius himself in Inst. 3,25,11 ne oratoria quidem igno-
randa est^ In this connection attention should be called
to the need of extraordinary caution in respect to the so-
called nTTo Koivov construction, that is, when the substantive
with reference to which the meaning of the so-called sub-
stantive adjective is chiefly determined, is found not in the
connection with such an adjective but in the more or less
remote context. ,Thi8 case is clearly a special type of the
general situation which Paul (p. 297) describes afi " Er-
ganzung aus der Situation." ^ These cases must, of course,
be carefully distinguished and excluded, 'atto koivov is also
found in passages in which there is a general subject and
words are used referring to the general subject at various
places in the passage. In Pliny's Natural History whole
chapters are devoted to special subjects, and when such a
reference is made, the generic notion is suggested by the
general subject of the chapter. It is very difficult and

^ Cf . also Tac. Dial. 6,1 and 8,14 oratoria eloquentia.

Use op the Adjective as a Substantive 205

naturally it is often impossible to decide whether one has a
case of true ellipsis or only the and koivov construction.

A very remarkable instance of this is found in Lucre-
tius 2,442-463. Beginning with line 60 the atoms have
been under discussion. ,In lines 442-463 the expressions
hamatis, ramosis, levibus, rotundis and perpleicis occur as
designations of atoms. The fact that Lucretius in the course
of book 2 uses a variety of general terms to designate his
atoms (e. g. genitalia corpora (1. 63), exordia rerum (1.
333), primordia (11. 379, 396), elementa (11. 393, 411,
414), principia (1. 443), and uses in fact the last two at
the beginning and at the close of this passage, would sug-
gest that the poet had in mind throughout this passage no
one particular word, with reference to which the under-
scored words were used, but rather the picture or concept of
the objects themselves.'

I have divided these adjective substantives into three
classes. In the first are included " true substantives '^ em-
ployed without consciousness of ellipsis. The second and
much larger class consists of adjectives substantivized in
connection with an elided noun, yet sometimes used as a
true adjective. This class is well illustrated by the word
fera with bestia (?) omitted. This substantive has by long
and popular use taken on all but exclusively the function
of a substantive, yet we find in Cic. Lael. 21 Hoc apparet in
bestiis, voJucribus, nantibus, agrestibus, dcwrribus, feris,
the word feris has an adjectival force.

The third division is that in which the omitted substan-
tive is made evident only through the situation, i. e. the
connection of the adjective used as a substantive with that
particular portion of the context. A very good example is
that of Lucretius 4,723 et unde quae veniunt veniant in
mentem, percipe pauds. Here the omitted substantive is

206 University of Michigan Studies

plainly verbis yet nothing in the adjective itself shows this.
It is, rather the whole situation which determines the
omitted word. The word " positional " is used to describe
this class.

Group 1. True Substantives.

Only one example of the first group is found in Lucre-
tius and that is derived from a geographical proper
adjective.

3,382 nam neque pulveris interdum sentimus adhaesum
corpore nee membris incussam sidere cretam

Lucretius here uses creta ^ chalk ^ for creta terra.

Professor Eolfe ^ says of this word ; " The original mean-
ing of creta was so completely lost sight of that Pliny, Nat.
hist. 33,163 speaks of cretam Eretriam exactly as we do of
* Dresden china ^ — The word appears as a substantive in
the earliest Latin, e. g. Plant. Aul. 709. The word seems
not to occur in Greek, but Diosc. 5,171 has 'EfjfTfuiis (sc.y^ ).
Plin. Nat. hist. 35,196 mentions Cimolia {Sarda, Umbrica,
Thessalica) , etc.'^ The complete obliteration of the original
idea in this adjective plus substantive is shown very clearly
in Horace, Odes 1,36,10. Cre^sa ne careat pviohra dies nota.
" The meaning is, * that the day may be a bright one in our
memory,^ from the practice of recording especially happy
days with a white mark and unhappy ones with black " ; *
cf. Serm. 2,3,246 Sani ut creta, an carhone notanti?

A word which comes very near this category is serpens,
probably originally used with hestia, yet it is occasionally
used as an adjective.

The examples of serpens in Lucretius axe : 3,658 micanti
serpentis cauda; 4,60 luhrica serpens; 4,638 serpens ipsa.

* Op. cit. p. 8.
" Smith, ad loc.

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 207

Plautus has proserpens bestia in four instances: Asin. 695 ;
Pers. 299 ; Stich. 722 ; Poen. 1034. Bestia is probably to
be supplied with the examples given from Lucretius, al-
though serpens is also used as a masculine in 5,38 where it
refers to the dragon of the Hesperides, and it is used by
other authors in the masculine as an appellative (see Virgil,
Aen. 5,273). In such case perhaps draco is the omitted
substantive (cf . Suetonius, Tiber 72 erat ei in delectamentis
serpens draco.

An adjective-substantive very freely used by Lucretius is
inane with which I think spatium was originally used.
That Lucretius himself felt the substantive is plainly evi-
dent from the examples 1,527 Quae spatium pleno possint
distingu^re inane; cf. 1,523. There is no instance in Lu-
cretius of the use of inane in the purely abstract sense where
the supplying of spatium would give an incorrect meaning
to the passage. The instances of inane are so numerous
that I cite them by figures only :

(a) Nominative: 1,330; 420; 342; 480; 509; 511; 569;
954; 1010; 1079; 2,236; 5,357; 365; 366. (b) Ac-

cusative: 1,369; 382; 386; 399; 426; 439; 507; 514; 517;
520; 536; 655; 658; 745; 843; 1074. (c) Genitive:

1,365 pit/s manis, which shows an adjective-substantive of
the third declension used with another of the same declen-
sion, a very rare use, according to NSgelsbach. (d)
Ablative: 1,526; 660; (v. 1. inane)-, 1,742; 1009; (v. 1.
inane) ; 6,941. For inane in prepositional phrases cf. pp.
210, 211.

A word closely allied to inane is the technical term
vacuum. This also became a substantive through the ellip-
sis of spatium and the same phenomena are evident in the
transformation. In a few places it retains its adjectival
force as in 1,523. I give the examples from Lucretius ac-
cording to case and use in the sentence.

208 University op Michigan Studies

Nominative: 1,393; 394. Oenitive: 1,367 vacui minus.
Accusative: in prepositional phrases; in vacuum 6,1007;
1014; 1017.

Group 2. " Quasi-Substantives.^'

The second division, intermediate between the extremes,
includes those in which the omitted word is almost certainly
known without the context. For all practical purposes these
substantives, like the preceding, are true substantives, but
as they are slightly over the boundary line I have thought
best to make a separate division for them. Examples in
point are our own words " right '^ and " left/' Latin dextera
and laeva. With these two words m/inus is omitte'd, but
they belong to the quasi-substantives because even without
the context, the whole idea is conveyed with fairly reason-
able certainty. To be sure laeva and dextra might, in an
adjectival sense refer to something other than wunus, but
in the ordinary usage the adjective plus the substantive idea
is expressed with reasonable clearness by laeva and dextra
alone. Examples: 3,649; 651; 5,1298.

A substantive as frequently used by Lucretius as any
other is fera with which hestia was originally used (cf. Cic.
Lael. 21 cited above).

The examples of fera in Lucretius are: Nomina-

tive: 2,343 armentaferaeqwe; 2,922; 3,880; 4,1197; 5,228.
Oenitive: 1,404 montivagae ferai; 163 genus omne
ferarum; also 1,255; 2,539; 597; 598; 877; 995; 1076;
1081; 1152; 3,753; 776; 872; 888; 4,413; 680; 686; 994;
1264; 5,39; 201; 218; 932; 947; 967; 1059; 1338; 6,198;
766. Dative: 5,991; Accusative: 2,604; 5,868.

Words of this same type are volv^er, dies, quadrupes.
With quadrupes I supply hestia or helua (cf. however, in
Vergil quadrupedante used for horse) ; with ales, avis or
hestia; with volucer, ales, avis or hestia. The examples in

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 209

Lucretius are: 2,928 alituum; (also 5,801; 1039; 1078
[6,818;] 821); 1,12 aeriae volucres; (also 1,162; 589
2,145; 344; 3,880; 984; 993; 4,1007; 1197; 5,801; 825
1078) ; 2,536 quadripedum in genere; also 4,1265; 5,1202
6,757.

An adjective-substantive made by the ellipsis of a noun,
and frequently met in Lucretius, is summa. The word to
be supplied here is, in my opinion, ratio (cf. Cic. De leg.
1,18 lex est ratio summa, vnsita in natura, quae vubet ea,
quae fadenda sunt, prohibetqu£, contraria; Ad Att. 8,11.
D §5 ; and Lucretius 1,54 de summa caeli ratione,

Summa is often used by Lucretius in a technical sense.
I give first the examples in which this word is used alone ;
second those in which another substantive modifies it; and
third, those in which it is limited by an adjective either
attributive or predicative.

Summa alone. Nominative: 1,1045; 2,310; 5,194;

330; 6,606. Genitive: 1,953; summae finis; 1,1053

in medium summae. Accusative: 1,436; 636; 706;

963; 1042; 2,513; 518; 527; 530; 5,368. Ablative:

2,1054; 1077; 3,84; 514; 2,91 in mmm^,

Summa with a modifying genitive: Rerum summa:
1,756; 1008; 1028; 2,75; 5,237; 2,303; 649; 1,333.
Summa loci: 2,1044. Sum^ma salutis: 2,863.

Summarum summa: 5,361. The last example is particu-
larly interesting. Immsnsi summum: 2,1095; 6,485.
Summam materiai: 2,527. Ad maris s. 6,613.

Summa with a modifying adjective: Summae totius
1,988; incolumis summa 2,71; S. ulla 2,339; ad summam
summai totius omnem 6,679 (cf. summarum s. above).

Group 3. Positional Substantives.

In this group the omitted substantive can be determined
only by the situation, the environment of the substantive in

210 University of Michigan Studies

question. This class may be still further subdivided into

(a) substantives which do not, in themselves, give a hint of

the omitted word, and (b) those which barely suggest the i

elided substantive, but do not afford sufficient evidence to

determine it with certainty.

Subdivision (a). |

5,905 Qui fieri potuit, triplici cum corpora ut una, i

Prima leo, postrema draco, media ipsa, chimaera \

Ore foras acrem flaret de oorpore flammam?

Here the omitted substantive is plainly pars, but in other
situations prima, postrema and media might refer to other \

objects or might have their adjectival force.

3,522 medidna. On this word see Eolfe, Archiv. Lat.
Lex. vol. 10 (1898), p. 235, who supplies ars rather than
res; and compare C. I. L. VIII, 241 m^dica arte and Varro,
De ling. lat. 1,593 ah arte medidna medicos dictus.

The usage magni referre 2,894 seems to be phased on such
expressions as parvi pretii, magni (pretii) aestimare, which
are quite common. Other examples in Lucretius are 1,817 ;
2,883; 894; 4,984; 1257; 1264; 5,545; always with referre;
1,908 permagni referre.

With pleraque in 1,1215-22 the omitted substantive ani-
malia becomes evident only when we take the word pleraque
in its environment; and even here it is quite unlikely that
Lucretius had any verbal image of the word animalia in his
mind.

Expressions denoting relations (chiefly local) are mostly
prepositional phrases with the neuter singular adjective
substantive in the ablative or accusative case. Lucretius
follows the general Latin usage. He uses ad (in) imum,
ah (ex) imo, in (per) medium, in (a) medio, in artum,
ah (e) summo, ex {de) supero, in aperto, per inane, in
inani, in arto. If there has been any ellipsis here, it was

TJSB OF THE ADJEOTIVB AS A SUBSTANTIVE 211

doubtless of locum, loco, though with inane the word spor
Hum should rather be thought of. It is possible, however,
that all these cases fall under class A above (p. 192).

An interesting example is found in 6,62 : Rursus in anti-
quas referuntvr religionis.

The metaphorical meaning of the phrase becomes clear
only when we have the context. I would supply here sen-
tentias, the idea being of persons borne back into their old
superstitions.

Expressions like dbrupta, ardua, summa are said (Drae-
ger, op. cit. vol. 1, p. 50) to be due to the ellipsis of the word
loca. If this view is correct the Lucretian representatives
should find mention at this point. Unquestionably adjec-
tives like the above occur as modifiers of loca, e. g. Liv.
39,1,5 ardtui atque iniqua loca, Caes. Bell. Gall. 2,19,5 loca
aperta, but that the substantive use of these plurdlia neuira
developed out of the combination of adjective plus loca is
not thereby proven. They may have developed like the
adjective substantives in class A. Lucretius has the follow-
ing examples: culia ac deserta 1>164; vitima naturae
1,1116; summa atqvs ima 2,488; and the prepositional
phrases : 1,223 per inania; 2,1102 in deserta recedens; 6,142
per nubila (also 6,199) ; 4,74 de summis; 2,892 ex omnibus.
In the last two cases the endings give no indication as to
gender and we have to depend on the situation for the exact
meaning.

The examples of the substantive with a genitive to com-
plete its meaning (see Nagelsbach, p. 114) : 1,354 clcuusa
dom^rum; 4,612 clcuusa [domorum] ; 5,417 pontique pro-
funda; 5,1374 olearum caeruia; 6,96 caerula caeli; 6,214
nubila caeli (also 1,6; 278); 1,659 Ardua dum m&tuunt
amittunt vera viai || MSS. ver, aula ||. In prepositional
phrases: 1,340 per .... sublim/ique caeli; 1,1090 per
15

212 . University of Michigan Studies

caeli caerula; 2,115 per opaca domorum; 4,730 corporis
.... per rara; 5,771 per caervJa mundi; 6,332 per rara
viarum; 6,817 in apertum prom^ptaque caeli.

The adjective-STibstaiitive modified by an attributive ad-
jective or participle : 4,101 simili specie praedita rerum ex-
tima 1 1 MSS. ex\\; 6,269 verdis atque igniius omnia plena
sunt; 6,462 nubUa tenvia; 6,731 nubila omnia.

To the above list of positional substantives we may ap-
pend the following, which only provisionally reveal the
omitted word through their inherent meaning: 2,369ff.
Praeterea teneri trenvuiis cum vocihvs haedi comigeras no-
runt matres agnique petvici halantum pecudes. If a sub-
stantive haa been elided in connection with the substan-
tive use of halantesj we should naturally think of oves (cf.
Phaedrus 3,15,1 agno balanti) while avis or ales is sug-
gested by 2,878 pennipatentum (cf. 4,1010 persectantes ,
volantes).

With the expression ex infinite, while the idea of infinity
is very evident, whether this infinity is of time or space can
only be ascertained by a study of the connection of the
phrase in its environment. The time element is in the as-
cendency in

2,265 Ex infinite (sc. tempore) ne causam causa sequatur;
cf . 1,1025 ; 2,530. Lucretius also uses the full form of the
expression, e. g. 2,574 ex infinite tempore; also in 1,550 ;
578; 5,188; 316; 378; 423.

On the other hand the spacial conception occurs with
infinite in: 5,408; 1,1001; 1036; 5,367; 414.

With salse I supply aequere in 5,1080 in salse \ \ salsis
Lamb. 1 1^ on the basis of those passages in which Lucretius
himself has used the fuller forms of expression; for exam-
ple 3,493; 5,128; 6,634 all three of which show the ex^i
pression aeqwore salse.

Use of the Adjective as a Substantive 213

Lucretius uses a few substantives in the neuter plural
which have been formed from geographical names. For
full discussion of such formation see Professor Eolf e^s ^^ The
Formation of Latin Substantives from Geographical Ad-
jectives by Ellipsis/^ already referred to.

In each of the instances given below the word to be sup-
plied is ascertained by the historical associations connected
with the word itself and also by the situation in the text.
For instance, we know that the Babylonians were famed for
their textiles and that the Sicyonians were celebrated for
the taste and skill displayed in the various articles of dress
made by them, among which we find mention of a certain
kind of shoe much prized in all parts of Greece. Cicero
refers to such foot-wear in De oratore 1,231 with the words
caiceos Sicyomos, The passages in Lucretius are:

4,1125 Huic lenta et pulchra in pedibus Sicyonia rident.
4,1029 Interdum in pallam atque AUdenaia Oiaque ver-

tunt;
Cum Babylonica (1. e. "coverlets") magnlfico

splendore rigantur;
4,1123 Labitur interea res et Babylonica fiunt.

ALPHABETICAL LIST.

abdita (loca), Alidensia Ciaque (texta), altum (caelum,
mare, locum), ales . (avis, bestia), amaracinum (unguen-
tum), angustum (locum), antiquas (sententias), ardua
(loca), apertum (locum, caelum), artum (locum).
Babylonica (texta), balantum (ovium). Caerula

(loca), cava (loca), Cia cf. Alidensia, clausa (loca),
creta (terra), culta (loca). Deserta (loca), dextra

(manus), [Extima] (loca). Fera (bestia).

Infinitum (tempus, spatium), inane (spatium), inania
(loca), ima (loca). Laeva (manus). Magni

(pretii?), media (pars), medium (locum), medicina

214 University of Michiqan Studies

(ars), multa (verba). Nubila (loca). Omnia

(loca), omnibus (elementis), opaca (loca). Parvum

(argentnm), parvus (pner), paucnm (verbum), penni po-
tens (ales, avis, bestia), persectans cf. pennipotens,
planum (locum), pleraque (animalia), pluribus (verbis),
postrema (pars), prima (pars), profunda (loca), profundi
(spatii?), prompta (loca). Quadrupes (bestijt),

quantum (pondus, spatium). Eara (loca). Sa-

lientum (marum), salsum (aequor), serena (loca), serpens
(bestia, draco), Sicyonia (calciamenta), sublima (loca),
summa (loca), summa (ratio), superum (locum).
Tantum (pondus, spatium). Ultima (loca), unum

(locum). Vacans (spatium), vacuum (spatium),

vera (loca), volans (ales, avis, bestia), volucer (ales,
bestia).

SUMMAEY.

1. Lucretius did not use a neuter singular of the parti-
ciple as a substantive, a use noted in other writers.

2. He did not use the adjective as a substantive near or
in the midst of real substantives or with indefinite pronouns.

3. He used the nominative singular masculine present
participle as a substantive, a use denied by Nagelsbach.

4. He made sufficiently extensive use, at least in one sec-
tion, of feminine adjective substantives to necessitate a
special classification of them.

5. His use of the future participle was limited.

/